Michael Mirolla, in The Photographer in Search of Death, tells us stories that blend the explicable with the inexplicable. As if a camel were actually passing through the eye of a needle, these stories pass what is commonplace through a hyper-realistic lens into the utterly mysterious. Houses have rooms that appear and disappear. Very real objects, invaded by an unbelievable force, become believably unreal. Streets filled with everyday individuals become – in our modern technologi...

Michael Mirolla's poetic world is one where a mirror, or any simple reflective item is tilted ever so slightly, providing an opening to places we never imagined existed. (One of them is his own birth, from the inside, looking reluctantly out.) The poet is a metaphysical detective, finding the cracks and gashes that open into other worlds. Uncomfortable in the here and now, he would rather spend time in the past/future, or on the edge of that mirror. Luckily for us, shaped by his reflective...

This migration anthology is an entertaining miscellany of factual stories, essays, newspaper reportage, and even a poem, all of which highlight the humour, as well as the ironies and agonies generated when humans seek a new homeland. The authors, and their stories, are as diverse as our Canadian population itself, and help to tell who we all are within this amazing, tolerant, nurturing geographic space called Canada. All migrants have stories, but not all are writers, so although most auth...

The landlord, the husband, the wife, and the lover. Giulio di Orio, an assistant lecturer in Philosophy, brings one of his students, known as Torp—short for Torpedo—to the Vancouver flat he shares with his wife Nicole. Soon their landlord is convinced that Torp is the devil incarnate, and the police have arrested him for the street bombings that have been plaguing the city. A sexually-charged tale bubbling with lust, suspected murder, and the twilight of the flower children—all set against...

Migration stories are an essential component of Canada's historical/literary continuum; we need to know of such writings to rationalize about who Canadians really are, and where they are from. Aren't we all the children of migration? Where we came from, how we got here, who we were, and are, and who may become in time ? such themes should interest all those naturally concerned about identity and origin; that eternal enigma wrought of migration. These short-fiction stories tell much about m...

The Independent Best Book for Walkers 2022 Where can a walk take you?It goes without saying, walking can connect us to our surroundings and free us from our worries. It can raise our heart rate and relax our minds. It can lead us across historic ground and inspire new thinking.In this beautiful collection, twenty outstanding writers set out with old memories and new adventures. ‘I’ve always hated walking,’ Harland Miller offers as his precis, while Ingrid Persaud a...

What are the ethics of writing about a place you visit as an outsider? With Granta's long tradition of travel writing in mind, we ask some of the foremost writers of the genre: is travel writing dead?Tara Bergin, Rana Dasgupta, Geoff Dyer, Eliza Griswold, Mohsin Hamid, Lindsey Hilsum, Colin Thubron, Pico Iyer, Ian Jack, Robert Macfarlane, Wendell Steavenson, Samanth Subramanian and Alexis WrightPlus:William Atkins investigat...

Garnering international prizes and acclaim before its publication, Ilustrado has been called "brilliantly conceived and stylishly executed . . .It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humor" (2008 Man Asian Literary Prize panel of judges).It begins with a body. On a clear day in winter, the battered corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River—taken from the world is the controversial lion of Philippine literature. Gone, ...

The New York Times–bestselling series continues with the murder of an American soldier in Venice: "This is definitely an author to watch ( Kirkus Reviews).Early one morning, Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police confronts a grisly sight when the body of a young man is fished out of a fetid canal. All clues point to a violent mugging, but for Brunetti the motive of robbery seems altogether too convenient. When something discovered in the ...

“Beautiful. The human condition is on full display in these glimpses of our essential connectedness. Perfect for our times.”—Dani Shapiro, author of InheritanceSixty-five extraordinary writers grapple with this mystery: How can an ephemeral encounter with a stranger leave such an eternal mark?When Colleen Kinder put out a call for authors to write a letter to a stranger about an unforgettable encounter, she opened the floodgates. Th...

Finalist for the NBCC Award for Criticism'Nothing about Jenny Diski is conventional. Diski does not do linear, or normal, or boring ... highly intelligent, furiously funny' Sunday Times'Funny, heartbreaking, insightful and wise' Emilia Clarke'She expanded notions about what nonfiction, as an art form, could do and could be' New YorkerJenny Diski was a fearless writer, for w...

New York Times Bestseller: Two injured, unconscious American women are found in Venice, Italy, leading a police detective down a dark path: "A splendid read." — BookPageIn his many years as a commissario, Guido Brunetti has seen all manner of crime and known intuitively how to navigate the various pathways in his native city, Venice, to discover the person responsible. In this novel in Silver Dagger Award-winning series, he faces a heinous crime co...